Mike Richards’ Center Ice Shot Against The Edmonton Oilers

I can’t get this shot out of my head…and not just the shot but everything about it including Mike Richards’ body language thereafter.

I have replayed it so many times in my mind that I am not even sure anymore it happened.

I can’t remember if I saw it while in my seat or if it was the time I had to take a call, watched it outside of 301 and stopped hearing what the person on the other end of the line said for about 5 seconds while I thought “what the hell was that?”

Mike Richards comes from a talented Philadelphia team that plays an aggressive game in the offensive zone. They funnel the puck to the net. Every game I have seen Philly play, from a “systems” standpoint, was and is polar opposite to the LA Kings’ offense. Then, Mike Richards arrives here and the phlegmatic relic behind the bench just wants him to “shoot” with a mentality of not getting “cute”, apparently defined as treating the skill-set bestowed upon him by his Creator with contemptible disdain.

I have yet to write that article because once you go there, you can’t go back.

Regarding Therrien, what I remember vividly of him was getting fired from Pittsburgh and then the Penguins going on to win the Cup. Actually, I take that back. I recall the Montreal days as well. Didn’t he have a truculent relationship with certain players?

What do you like so much about him?

update: I just pulled an article from when he was fired:

Therrien relied on a system in which every player, no matter his skill level offensively, was required to play tight defense, and there were rumblings in the dressing room that the players were no longer buying into the coach’s disciplinarian ways.

“You hear that in pro sports, that the team may have tuned the coach out, or the coach may have lost the team, but I’m not sure if you can pinpoint that,” Shero said. “As the general manager of the team, I’m very close from watching, it’s just a feeling — the timing is right.”

Bylsma did not criticize Therrien, but said it’s clear to him the Penguins need to get back to being a fast, offensive-driven team.

“With the strengths we have, we should be able to go into buildings and make teams deal with the quality of players we have at every position,” Bylsma said. “I look at a group that can win games right now, and we need to do that. We can do this, but the players have to believe we can do this.”

… I think he was wrongly done in Montreal (as was Alain Vigneault) despite leading that team to the second round of the playoffs in his only full season there, and that team was a bit unimpressive at first glance seeing as how Yanic Perreault was his leading scorer.

In Pittsburgh, he was the one who led the Pens back on the winning track, and of course was two wins from the Stanley Cup in ’08. As for his dismissal, the story’s more complicated than him being too defensively demanding for his players to deal with. The problem with the Penguins when Therrien was fired was poor defense, not poor offense. I do think the firing was a wake up call to the team, and got them going again – but I don’t believe that’s a black mark against Therrien; I think he was more a victim of circumstances.

Therrien is a passionate guy, and definitely will say what he feels about a team – obviously, that was the source of his problems with various players. I think he’s a great and entertaining interview, with his charisma, accent, and mannerisms. I can’t see how he wouldn’t go over huge in Los Angeles, and with the fans here. He’s in his 40s; he’s not a relic of another era. Ever since the Penguins let Michel go, I’ve been thinking that him coming here would be a match made in heaven. If anyone has any better ideas, let’s hear em.

Stumbled on to the blog via Wheaton’s tweet today. I found this comment thread particularly interesting, given that I’m a lifelong Penguins fan. :)

I think JT’s onto something here. Therrien did a great job rebuilding the mess the Penguins had after Olcyzk left. His system makes up for a lot of mistakes his players make, which puts the team as a whole in a better position. I also think he’s learned from mistakes he’s made in the past. He’s kept very close with the Pens organization and I know he’s very proud of what they’ve done since Bylsma’s taken over.

With that said, Therrien has a shelf life at any club. His system is not particularly fun to play for offensive players, in that it hamstrings them in many ways. That makes it harder to land/keep free agents. There’s a reason the Pens were voted the team most players would want to play for. Bylsma wants his players to be aggressive. Terrien wants his to be conservative.

By all accounts, he’s a great guy and would do wonders for the Kings in the short term. Just be ready with a long term plan 2-3 years from now. :)

I think I remember that shot from just outside the blue line I think. It was a weird shot. I thought “What the hell are you doing you had some time and space to possibly get into the zone for a better shot.”

I kinda thought it was a little outta frustration but didn’t think much of it afterwards. Would be kinda funny if was saying here’s your fucking shot mentality coach.